Nothing's Gone Forever (Only Out Of Place)
by CallMeLy
Summary: [Part of my ZOMBIES fic timeline] Some tragedies can drive people apart, even if those people are practically family, and after that, even the happy things seem to make it worse. Sometimes it takes another tragedy to bring them back together. The story of the Necrodopolous and Reilig families' history (Title from the song The Place Where Lost Things Go from Mary Poppins Returns)
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

The "backstory angst" is here! This is the story of the Necrodopolous and Reilig families and all the things they've been through together

If you haven't read my one-shot collections Limelight or Beyond The Barrier, I'd recommend reading them first, at least the ones that involve Paizley. That would be "The Stand", "Memory" (the most important one) and "Research" from Limelight and "She's Got Everything" from Beyond The Barrier. And possibly the first story in Zombie Town Christmas, if you want even more context. But I'll try to make this easy enough to understand without them~

There is once again a fic trailer edited by krut09 - her YouTube is Kreatable23 if you want to go watch that! (and you really should because it's perfect...!) - and a playlist with theme songs for each chapter. New songs will be added on Wednesdays, chapters will come on Thursdays. Ask me for a link!

**Prologue theme song:** How Does A Moment Last Forever? (Music box) from Beauty and the Beast (2017)

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Prologue

"_This is why you need me around, Zeddy!"_

_~ How does a moment last forever? How can a story never die? _

Zed didn't expect this story to come out like this, at such an unexpected time. On a day like any other, with him sitting in the cafeteria opposite Addison and Eliza, with Bonzo beside him and Bree next to Addison, prompted by a single word.

He was joking around with his friends as always, he and Eliza arguing over something meaningless, with Bonzo making the occasional quip and sniggering at them both (when he could tear his attention away from Bree) until Zed found himself lost for words. Eliza had him completely stumped and was now giving him a smug look. She tilted her head towards him, almost daring him to find a comeback, but he just scoffed and looked down at his food.

"Aww...!" Addison cooed with a teasing smile and reached across the table to squeeze his cheeks as he pouted, "Poor Zeddy."

Zed flinched, almost like he'd been shocked by his Z-band. But he wasn't reaching for it, and he didn't seem to be in any pain, so that couldn't have been it. Addison frowned, as did Bree, while Eliza and Bonzo glanced from Zed, to the two human girls, to each other. Addison instinctively placed a hand on Zed's, concerned.

"Zed? You alright?"

He put on a smile and tried to play it off, "Yeah! Yeah, it's nothing..." he lifted his head and was met with Eliza's blank stare. Her eyes shifted towards Addison and back to him. Zed turned to Bonzo to avoid her gaze only to get practically the exact same look, "... Guys, seriously..."

"Zed, if you two are gonna be a thing, you should really consider telling her."

Bonzo nodded, "Egrall."

"Tell me what?" Addison asked in confusion.

Zed didn't respond, taking a bite out of an apple as an excuse and Eliza shook her head, "Don't make _me_ do it," she muttered. With a sigh, Zed sat back in his chair and gestured for her to go ahead. Eliza turned to Addison and lowered her voice slightly, "See, that's what Zed's mom used to call him. He gets a little sensitive about it."

"Oh...!" Addison's eyes widened and she looked back at Zed, suddenly seeming guilty.

"Addy, don't worry about it. It's not a big deal."

"I'm still sorry, though! It's just that I remembered that zombie girl calling you that one time. The girl who's home-schooled...? Paizley, right?"

"Yeah, but Paizley is... _Paizley_..."

Now she was even more confused, "And... what does that mean, exactly?"

"Our moms were, like, best friends," Zed explained, "We're super close. She's like a big sister. Or a cousin or something."

Eliza leaned toward Addison, briefly side-eying Zed as she smirked, "And she was his babysitter."

"She was _Zoey's_ babysitter," he insisted with a roll of his eyes. Addison mirrored Eliza's smirk and raised an eyebrow.

"Why would Zoey need a babysitter when she had you?"

"Oh, I can answer that!" Eliza laughed, "Because he's completely hopeless and irresponsible and should never be left alone with a child that young."

Zed's mouth dropped open, offended, and he shot her an irritated look, "I am not..." he paused and Eliza snorted, "... _That_ irresponsible...!"

"Really? So, what would you call swiping right?"

Zed bit his tongue as Addison, Bonzo and Bree all turned their heads away in different directions, unsuccessfully trying to pretend they hadn't heard. After he threw them all an annoyed look, he leaned towards Eliza and hissed, "We agreed we wouldn't talk about that anymore!"

"That's fine," Eliza shrugged, "I have other more Zoey-related examples. Like letting her get involved in a snowball fight with the Terrible Trio."

"Hey, that was Paizley's fault! Not mine!"

"How about all the times she's followed you to a zombie mash and tricked you into letting her stay?" Zed had no answer as she continued, "The cheerleading-related accidents you probably could've prevented if you were only more vigilant?"

Zed deadpanned, "This went from a potentially touching story about my mom to listing off all of my mistakes real fast."

Eliza smiled, resting her chin in her hands and batting her eyelashes, "Don't you just love being friends with me?"

"Getting back to the point," Addison interrupted, "Where does Paizley come into this? Like, I get that she's a family friend and all, but why does _she_ call you by your mom's old name for you and not anybody else? ... Does your dad call you that?"

"No," Zed answered plainly, shaking his head.

"Are you, like... OK telling me about this?" she asked and he nodded once, "So, why Paizley?"

There was a pause, then Zed sighed, "You want the full story?"

"Do I?"

"It might take a while."

"Take as long as you need."


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

And the story begins...!

Some family cuteness here, before we get into the angst next chapter ;)

I'm also working on another angsty multichapter for Zephzo/BFZ (from Limelight) and this time it's on the canon timeline, unlike Tattooed Mistakes was. I haven't got a title yet so it's just getting called the "future fic" for now. And I'm going to be turning A Zombie History Lesson into a one-shot collection and I'm writing lesson 2 atm~ Plus more Limelights, of course, and I'll be starting a new BtB soon. Anyway, back to Out Of Place... Zed's full name came from fist-it-out and Eliza's and Bonzo's came from krut09~

**Chapter 1 theme songs:** American Honey by Lady Antebellum, Little Brothers from Phineas and Ferb and The Best Day by Taylor Swift

* * *

Chapter 1

"_I've known Paizley my whole life. Since the day I was born. Hell, even _before_ I was born..."_

_~ She grew up good, she grew up slow, like American honey ~_

She may as well have grown up with four parents. Treaza Reilig and Zana Necrodopolous had been the best of friends for years, their mutual curiosity of the human's world on the other side of the barrier tying them together. They were both so eager, and so unafraid of the outside.

Their husbands never quite understood what they found so intriguing about it all but they could happily sit back and smile as the two women chattered away. Dezmond, Treaza's husband, did at least have some knowledge of human things – he worked at Seabrook's recycling plant alongside Treaza, and they even secretly collected up some of the objects they found there to bring home.

The humans in Seabrook had high standards, so the most miniscule of faults in anything they owned meant they had to get rid of it, which also meant that what they ended up throwing out was actually still usable. Some minor fixes and they were good to go. Paizley already loved the treasures that filled her house from the moment her parents first brought her home. No toy seemed to interest her; all she ever wanted to play with were the trinkets and gadgets she found scattered everywhere.

Zana and Zevon were around so often that even as a baby, Paizley, in her babbled Zombie-tongue, took to calling them 'jaka' – a term usually meant for older relatives; parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. But that was how she saw them. They were practically family, Treaza and Zana were like sisters, so who else could they possibly be if not Zanajaka and Zevjaka? A toddler wasn't going to understand more than that.

She didn't take much interest in the other little zombies her age. Not Azalea, or Zane, or Azim, or Ezra. She was happy playing by herself. Azalea's family lived opposite Zana and Zevon and they were friends with them and Paizley's parents, but that was about as much contact as the two girls had. And although Zane was already turning out to be quite a friendly child, Paizley barely responded to him either.

Some time before Paizley's third birthday, Azalea's mother, Zinnia, announced that she was pregnant. Although Paizley didn't understand what that meant, she noticed the attention Azalea was getting. The word 'janook' – 'family' – was being thrown around a lot in her presence; they specifically meant 'sister'. Azalea was going to be a big sister. And even if she didn't fully grasp what was going on, Paizley was fascinated by the thought of a new baby zombie coming along. She started to take more notice of Azalea, but still not as a friend. It was more like she was observing her, trying to figure out what any of it had to do with her.

"Guag!" she said out of nowhere one day from her mother's arms. Though Zombie-tongue was far easier than English (it would be a little while longer before she'd start to learn English), certain sounds were still just as hard to pronounce for them as they were for human toddlers.

Treaza looked down at her daughter, "Ru quag gozig, zreeka?" _What do you want, sweetheart?_

"Guag 'anook...!"

She pointed further down the street, where Azalea and her parents were at Zia Nao's food stand.

_Quag janook._ She wanted to be a sister, too, whatever that meant, and Treaza stifled a giggle, already knowing that Paizley would, in a way, get what she wanted. She pressed her forehead to Paizley's and kissed her nose, "Magra grozgrog," _Maybe someday_, she whispered.

Because about two months after Zinnia, Paizley's Zanajaka had confided in Treaza that she was also pregnant. Not many other zombies knew – Zevon, obviously, and the Scythes family, and Dezmond was quickly informed, too. But Paizley still didn't quite understand the excitement. They hadn't expected her to, though, and decided to wait and see how long it would be before she noticed anything. Of course, it wasn't until Zana started to show another couple of months later, when Paizley saw her growing baby bump, that she started asking questions.

"Goreez zong'al?" _Why bigger?_

Treaza and Zana shared an amused look while Paizley stood staring. Treaza leaned forward in her chair and grinned down at her, "Agru zama aza zu Zinniaka, za?" _She looks like Zinnia, doesn't she?_

Paizley still didn't get it, though, "Goreez?"

"Ru quag z'adge janook, zet, za?" _You wanted to be a big sister, too, didn't you?_ her mother asked softly, smiling down at her, and she listened with wide, curious eyes, "Zama zu Leaka." _Just like Azalea._

Paizley could only nod, an excited grin splitting across her face and her little hands flapping, "Za!", but that was just from the reminder.

Zana let out a small, affectionate laugh from beside Treaza and beckoned Paizley closer, "Zo, Paizka," _Come here_, and when she did, Zana crouched as low as she could. Paizley didn't meet her eyes, distracted by the swelling of her belly, which Zana laid a gentle hand over, "Ag durg garzabe. Greh, grag ru durg janook z'agru, za?" _I'm going to have a baby. So, can you be a big sister for them?_

"Za!"

Over the coming months, Paizley would ask over and over again when the baby would come. Then Eliza Scythes was born and Paizley's interest piqued. It wasn't the little girl herself she was interested in. It was what was going on all around her. Although plenty of other zombie babies had been born in the last couple of years; Jazz and Zadie Reaping, Zeke Blakeley, the Styx twins, Alonzo Morgan, Denzel De'Ath, Izabelle Graves, Bonzo Izaki, among others... Paizley's family weren't especially close to any of them. This was new to her, and she actually tended to shy away from Eliza when she was near. Azalea, who was only a year older than Paizley, suddenly looked even older next to someone so small, and Eliza seemed to follow her every move while Paizley would sit with her parents and watch them.

Somehow, someday soon, Paizley was going to be in the same situation. Or close enough, at least. Would she want to stay away from the new baby like she did Eliza? Her parents and jaka hoped she wouldn't, but only time would tell.

– NOTHING'S GONE FOREVER –

The day Paizley Reilig, along with the rest of the world, finally met Zedekiah Necrodopolous was an event in and of itself. The hours leading up to their meeting, however, were stressful and confusing, and even moreso to Paizley.

There technically was no hospital for zombies – any and all medical procedures were performed in zombie containment by the zombie patrol's medics. Any trip to the containment facility was terrifying, and all Paizley knew was that Zanajaka had been taken to the place she was so scared of.

She couldn't actually go to containment herself, of course, and neither could Treaza and Dezmond; only the parents could be present for the birth, so the three of them were stuck waiting in Zombie Town for them to return. Her parents didn't once let her out of their sight the whole time, not wanting her to be left alone at a time like this, when she had no idea what was going on and they couldn't make any promises things would be alright. Zombie containment was never a good place to be, but if all went well, Zana and Zevon would be home with their son before curfew. Once he had his Z-band on, activated and registered in the patrol's system.

The patrol van rolled into town later that evening, with curfew still an hour away, and brought with it a rush of relief for Treaza and Dezmond. They both stood, Dezmond scooping up Paizley into his arms, and headed for the door. From the porch, they could see the Necrodopolous' being escorted from the van to their house by an officer, and a blanket bundled in Zana's arms. They waited until the van was gone to make their way over and Zevon answered the door to them, excitedly ushering them inside.

Paizley walked in slowly, hand-in-hand with her father. He led her towards Zana, who was leaning back on the couch still with the little bundle in her arms. Paizley watched her gently bounce it and whisper to it, confused until she got closer and saw a tiny, grey, Z-band-clad hand reach up and curl its fingers around thin air. Zana glanced up at her and smiled, then carefully lowered the blanket to Paizley's eye-level. Paizley stopped and looked down at the baby staring back at her, his eyes big and bright and his hair just a wispy tuft of green. The band on his wrist was so small, a model specifically made for infants that was synced up to the parents' bands.

"Zama 'Lizaka..." _Like Eliza..._ Paizley whispered.

"Za," Zana said, "Agru Zedekiahka," _This is Zedekiah_, then softer, "Zeddyka..."

Zeddy.

"Zazig zreek...!" _He's so cute...!_ she held out one hand and he grabbed hold of her finger, making her giggle. The adults couldn't take their eyes off the two for a second, all of them cracking a smile when Paizley leaned forward to say "Gar-garziga, Zeddyka."

They all felt their hearts melt at the sight. There wasn't a doubt in any of their minds that Paizley would be just as good, if not better, than a real big sister.

– NOTHING'S GONE FOREVER –

Zedekiah, or simply Zed, and Paizley grew up practically inseparable. Zed did become friends with Eliza, seeing as they were so close in age and always seemed to be around each other if for no other reason than their parents' friendship, but Paizley still wasn't seeming to connect with the other kids her age. Azalea would try and talk to her but she couldn't help being bored by Paizley's technobabble and Paizley didn't want to talk about much else, or play just about anything that couldn't even incorporate her treasures and crafts.

What confused Azalea, Eliza and the other children was how close Paizley and Zed were, and how easily Zed could get Paizley's attention, when they had nothing in common. He was almost four now and was starting to pick up on the funny looks some of the older kids would give Paizley, or the more curious looks Zane would give her. Even Eliza acted strange around her. To Zed, though, Paizley was part of his life, and an important part, at that.

"Paizka greirg," _Paizley's weird_, Eliza said to him one day while they were playing together and Zed stopped.

"Agru zon," _No, she's not_, he frowned.

"Zazig," _Yes, she is_, "Zon garzen. Agru ziga greirg zig, zet." _She has no friends. And she likes weird things._

"Ag janook." _She's my cousin._

"Zonzig." _Not really._

Zed paused, then shrugged, "Greh." _So what?_

Eliza didn't answer him.

They weren't all like that. Despite what the other kids thought of her, Zed knew that Bonzo was fond of Paizley, too. Paizley would sometimes take some of the old and broken items from the recycling plant apart, if there was really no hope of repairing them, and turn them into art projects and Bonzo seemed to like watching her work. The problem was his parents; they could be very judgemental and didn't ever seem to have anything nice to say about the Reiligs, or anyone for that matter, and it was seriously discouraging to their son.

Zed would always make some effort to try and include him when he was outside with the other children, waving to him and beckoning him over if he saw Bonzo watching them from his porch or window, usually with some little arts and crafts project of his own. But Bonzo would avert his gaze and pretend he hadn't seen, always looking a little too shy or nervous to join in. Paizley would be standing beside Zed and simply cock her head to one side and shrug.

"Maybe next time, Zeddy."

She smiled through everything. She took all the funny looks in her stride. She always stayed positive.

Zed couldn't imagine a single thing that could ever bring Paizley down.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

This chapter is mostly a reworked version of Paizley's Limelight one-shot "Memory", but with some extra details

**Chapter 2 theme songs:** Quiet from Matilda the Musical and Escapism from Steven Universe

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Chapter 2

"_So... that's it?"_

"_That's only the beginning. I didn't mind who called me 'Zeddy' back then. But you said you wanted the whole story and that means everything that happened that made it hard to hear from anybody but my mom. And _then_ how I ended up letting Paizley say it."_

"_How is there so much history to this?"_

"_You have no idea. There's a lot to unpack here. Speaking of which, did you know that Paizley's autistic, too? 'Cause that's something to keep in mind."_

_~ Pulled against the grain, I feel a little pain, that I would rather do without ~_

It had been a while since something like this had happened in Zombie Town.

At seven years old, Paizley had taken to choosing her own projects from the collection of items Treaza and Dezmond brought home to fix up. Her bedroom was filled with gadgets and homemade toys and sculptures. Some days, when Zana and Zevon would come round, Zed would sit watching her work as she tried to explain to him what she was doing, but it was all in one ear and out the other. He was only four, he wasn't going to understand it all. Still, he could keep her company and at least pretend to be interested, and maybe hand her tools or something.

After a few minutes of Paizley tinkering while Zed waited, though, she'd set her tools down and grin down at him.

"Aza, Zeddyka." _Look, Zeddy._

Then she would press a button, or flip a switch, or move a piece just the slightest bit to the left and his eyes would widen in awe as a light shone or music played or some kind of chain reaction would be set off. He would tell Eliza about it and she'd change the subject. He would tell Bonzo about it and his shoulders would slump in jealousy. Even if he found the process boring, Zed loved seeing the outcome and Paizley loved sharing her passion with her 'cousin'.

It was a day when he wasn't there with her when it happened. The raid.

Busy with repairing some human child's old, forgotten toy, Paizley paid no attention to the knock at the front door and barely even heard the call of "Zombie patrol!". It was the sudden shouting that followed, then the slam of the door against the wall, that alerted her to the trouble. She stopped, only just catching every few words.

"You can't just-" That was her mother.

"What's going on here?" Her father.

He didn't get an answer. Other voices that Paizley didn't recognise drowned out her parents' questions and objections. She looked down at the pieces lined up on her floor, waiting to be put together, and hesitated for a moment, but then she scrambled to her feet and ran to see what was going on. From the top of the staircase, she could see patrol officers moving back and forth, coming in empty-handed and going out again carrying... their treasures...

"Search every corner of every room," someone was saying, though she couldn't even tell where the words were coming from, "Check upstairs. Take anything that looks out of place."

Treaza and Dezmond were trying to argue but of course, the humans weren't listening. Paizley, starting to panic, backed up towards her bedroom as two patrol officers came up the stairs. One of them turned in the other direction while the other was walking right towards her. He pushed her aside but she followed him in. Tears filled her eyes at the sight of him picking up the carefully arranged pieces of the toy still on the floor like they were nothing, like they were just junk.

"They're mine!" she begged as he began grabbing items from her shelves, "Give them back, they're mine!"

He was gone from the room a moment later, and Paizley chased after him down the stairs until she was knocked down by the second officer as she carried another stack of the Reiligs' treasures away. She was up and following the humans again in a second. Treaza felt her heart thud.

"Paizley...!" her cries fell on deaf ears as Paizley disappeared outside and Treaza looked back at Dezmond in pure fear before running out after her.

On the street, other zombies were watching. Zynthia and Zeus Styx were ushering Rizzo, Zephyr and Alonzo inside as the three children stared in shock. Zia hurried to pick up Zane and bring him behind the stand. Zandra Blakeley grabbed Zeke's hand and pulled him behind her, though he was peering around her leg to see what was happening.

Paizley, almost screaming now, clawed desperately at the humans' arms, doing whatever she could to take her treasures back from them, but it was no use.

She didn't hear Treaza's warning, cut short, of "Paizley, don't-"

She didn't hear the officer barking into a walkie-talkie, "We have an unstable zombie at the scene, may require backup."

She didn't hear the man approaching from behind, taser in hand.

Zana appeared at the window of the Necrodopolous house, Zevon close behind her and both of them terrified.

"No...!" Treaza cried out, "You can't, she's just-"

Every other parent on the street quickly covered their children's eyes, or hid them from view, as Paizley was shocked.

But they all heard her scream. And they all watched in silent horror as she collapsed on the ground.

Dezmond was at her side in an instant and tried to lift her up but she jolted awake at the movement, struggling against him like she didn't realise it was her father holding her. He softly shushed her but she kept resisting.

"Paizka," he whispered. Zombie-tongue would be easier for her to understand in this state, "Zzh, zreeka, ag zu ru... Ru zorr?" _Ssh, sweetheart, I'm here... Are you hurt?_

Paizley's fists beat against his chest and tried to push him away. She shook her head almost violently. The only sounds she made were soft squeaks, like she couldn't form words. Nothing Dezmond did could calm her. His head snapped up at the sound of his wife's voice, shouting at the officers who were continuing their work.

"What did you do?! Why would you do that to a child?!"

She evidently got a little too close to one of them, because he threatened to arrest her if she kept 'resisting'. She gave up. There wasn't much else she could do.

By now, Paizley had stopped fighting and was curled up in her father's arms, shaking as tears ran down her cheeks. The patrol's vans were pulling away, taking with them practically all of the Reilig's collection, and Treaza reached out to take Paizley from her husband. Exhausted, Paizley fell limply into her mother's embrace. She had no idea when they had appeared, but she recognised the voices of Zanajaka and Zevjaka, and Zinnia and Zigmund, too. Zed stood watching from his porch, afraid to get any closer. Opposite him, Azalea had her arms wrapped tightly around Eliza in front of her. The two small zombies shared a look of confusion. Eliza gulped then lifted a foot to take a step but Azalea tightened her grip, not letting her go.

In her haze, Paizley felt fingers running through her hair and heard Zinnia's voice saying something but the words were jumbled in her head and she couldn't make them out. All she could do was cry silently and huddle closer to her mother, desperate for comfort.

– NOTHING'S GONE FOREVER –

"They took everything... Nobody wanted those things, they were going to be recycled. We recycled them! We did our job!" Treaza was saying, trying hard not to raise her voice too much and startle Paizley, who still hadn't come out of her daze.

"We didn't do it the way the humans wanted," Dezmond sighed, "And their way means _we_ get nothing."

"How did they even find out?"

"I don't know. But let's face it, they were just waiting for a zombie to make a mistake like this so they could step in. They wanted an excuse to knock us down even further."

Treaza nodded, her head down as she anxiously chewed her thumbnail, then she slowly looked up and across the living room at Paizley. She was sitting in the middle of the sofa, staring into space, a finger curling in her hair. Usually, she would have some sort of trinket to play with and ease her nerves but they were all gone now. Forever.

"... How could anybody do something like that to a little girl...?" Treaza all but whimpered, looking back at Dezmond with new tears in her eyes, "Who looks at a crying child and sees a _threat_?"

If Paizley heard her, she didn't respond. She hadn't said a word since it happened. She didn't want to go back to her room, or upstairs, or anywhere else. The whole house felt so empty.

The sun had set and, hearing the familiarly unnerving screech of the barrier opening down the street, Paizley finally stood up and walked, like she was in a trance, towards the window.

They were early.

"M-Mommy...?" Paizley called out weakly. It was the first time she'd spoken in hours and Treaza and Dezmond came running to see what made her break her silence.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

Paizley just turned back to the window and pointed.

"Early..."

The second he saw the zombie patrol vans in the distance, Dezmond tried to gently pull Paizley out of sight but she wouldn't be moved. There was a strange curiosity building inside her – she had to know what they were doing.

The patrol pulled up outside the Reiligs' house, making Treaza and Dezmond even more nervous. A handful of zombies were still out, making their way home before curfew, and every one of them stopped still and watched.

From inside, the officers brought out piles upon piles of seemingly random items. One of them locked eyes with Treaza and, stone-faced, dropped everything he was carrying in full view of her and her family. Paizley's mouth fell open in realisation.

"Mine..." she mumbled as the others threw more and more of their collection onto the ground, "They're mine... They're mine...!"

Treaza grabbed her arms as she started to beat her fists against the window and pulled her close.

In amongst all of their old treasures, the officers threw wood and newspaper – _kindling_. One of them turned away as the others carried out a circular metal guard which they set up around the pile. Both Treaza and Dezmond recognised the man immediately – he was one who had pulled his taser out on their daughter.

"It has been brought to the attention of the zombie patrol that certain zombies in this area have been stealing property from Seabrook's recycling plant, instead of doing their job," he announced to the zombies, both on the street and staring out from their windows, before fixing his gaze back on the Reiligs.

_We _were_ doing our job..._ Treaza thought, seething, but she wasn't going to risk going out there. It could be dangerous. The officer continued.

"So tonight, there will be a little demonstration before curfew. This is what happens when you zombies step out of line."

He reached into his pocket and Treaza and Dezmond gasped at what he took out. The zombies outside were edging towards their own homes now.

Matches.

The second he lit one, every zombie turned and fled to safety indoors. The man laughed to himself and held up the match for a moment, mocking them, then tossed it onto the pile.

Paizley couldn't breathe. Everything she had worked so hard on, all her efforts, all her parents' efforts, to lovingly repair and create, wasted. Her prized possessions, her treasures, her _passion_, up in flames.

She choked, then she let out a sob and her mom and dad held her as she cried. They tried to turn her head and shield her from the sight but she couldn't look away. The bonfire burned for what felt like hours and when it was finally extinguished, Paizley had fallen asleep with tears drying on her cheeks.

– NOTHING'S GONE FOREVER –

"Paizka...?" Zed looked up at her, frightened by her lack of a smile.

Her face was blank as she sat back on the sofa, showing no sign of acknowledgement to Zed as he peered at her over the arm, his face half hidden behind it. It was the following morning and he, Zana and Zevon had come to check up on them and see if they could help in any way. The Reiligs had lost most of their possessions and would need to find a way of replacing them all. As they were going through everything, Zed only wanted to see Paizley, but this wasn't the Paizley he knew.

"Paizka, goreez roska zorr ru?" _Why did the humans hurt you?_ he asked and she pulled her knees to her chest, staring into space, "Fire ru zorog?" _Were you scared of the fire?_

She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears, whimpering and shaking her head. Zed's eyes widened.

"Gozig?" _What?_

Paizley flopped over onto her side, making herself as small as possible, her whimpers growing louder. Treaza, Dezmond, Zana and Zevon immediately stopped talking and got up. As Paizley's parents rushed to comfort her, Zed's crouched down beside him.

"Abraza...!" _I'm sorry...!_ he said quickly, looking as though he was about to cry as well, but Zevon picked him up and Zana stroked his face.

"Zzh, grodge, Zeddyka," _Ssh, it's alright, Zeddy_, "Zon ru bragan." _It's not your fault._

"Bak..." _But..._

"Gra'zon agz garzalk zu fire, za? Paizka zorr, magra." _We can't talk about the fire, OK? It might hurt Paizley._

Azalea and Eliza were told the same thing. Don't talk about the bonfire, or about the raid, around Paizley. Don't ask her about it. Don't remind her of it.

Don't ever bring it up.

They did as they were told.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Time for some more backstory! We're bringing in a couple of other characters now: of the BGZ, Zane, and of the canon characters, Zoey~ This story is gonna be quite short, we're not too far from the end...

Also, it's Autism Acceptance Month! So I included some things about Paizley and her parents learning about her autism~

**Chapter 3 theme songs:** My House from Matilda the Musical, Simply Second Nature from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical (West End), Never Grow Up by Taylor Swift and Here Comes A Thought from Steven Universe

* * *

Chapter 3

"_Has Paizley ever brought it up?"_

"_No. She doesn't even really remember it. I'm pretty sure if zombies got any kind of mental health treatment, they'd diagnose her with PTSD. Actually, no, she _definitely_ has PTSD. She gets nightmares about fires all the time, she always feels like she needs to watch the zombie patrol at curfew. You've seen how the rest of us react to fire but Paizley just cries. And she doesn't even know why."_

"_That's so sad..."_

"_It's the worst. They – her and Aunt Treaza and Uncle Dez – they did rebuild their collection but they can't take things from the recycling plant anymore. It's all from the junkyard or things humans just throw over the barrier to get rid of, things they find on the street or whatever. Stuff nobody can trace. And Paizley trades things."_

"_Za. Droz ag grarg-zig, gruzic-zig, zet, z'agru." _I get most of my art supplies and music equipment from her.

"_But she _has_ to trade for it, she won't give anything away. And only for something she considers to be of equal value."_

"_What happened after the raid?"_

"_... Things got complicated."_

_~ I'm losing sight, I'm losing touch, all these little things seem to matter so much ~_

"Home-school?" Zana leaned forward across the table, her brow creased, "Are you sure about that, Treaza?"

Treaza sighed and shook her head, "I can't risk her running into the patrol again, and they're always at the school, aren't they? All those random inspections and whatnot. Besides, the teacher won't be prepared to help her with what she's going through, and she's still struggling to even leave the house! What else can we do?"

"Can you legally do that, though?"

"It's not like the humans actually care about zombies' education. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd prefer we keep our kids at home instead of letting them go to school, or anywhere else, for that matter. Dezmond and I aren't exactly qualified but who is in this town?"

Zana raised her eyebrows, giving a reluctant nod, "I can't argue with that."

"If it does turn out to be too hard, I'm sure someone from the school would be happy to tutor her at home," she paused, her head in her hand and her face exhausted, "I just don't want to make this any worse for her..."

– NOTHING'S GONE FOREVER –

Paizley was spending most of her time at home now, and Zed was so terrified of accidently upsetting her after the incident that he was almost afraid to talk to her at all. He pretty much only saw her when his parents took him over to the Reilig's house, which gradually happened less and less as time went on. She wasn't so eager to share her projects with him anymore, either. He watched her work as he always had but she seemed to be guarding all her tools and materials, shielding them away from everybody, including him. She didn't ask him to look at anything when she finished it.

Zed had begun learning English and would be starting school soon enough. He had always thought when he started school, that Paizley would be there with him to help him settle in and find his way around, and to generally look out for him. But she wasn't. She was at home.

All that remained of the day of the raid in Paizley's head was the sight of the fire raging on. She convinced herself that the gifts her parents had brought to her that now filled her bedroom were the exact same treasures that had always been there, and not attempts at replacing her very favourite things in the world. Watching the zombie patrol pass by every night was normal, it was perfectly normal, and she had always done it, hadn't she? Nothing had changed, and she was fine. She was safe. The same as ever. Her parents pulled her out of school simply because it was less stressful on her – she had never been comfortable in crowds.

One day, Paizley joined Treaza walking down the street to the cauli-brains stand, taking with her a collection of spare parts and tools to keep her busy while Treaza chatted with Zia. Zane sat on the ground, his back against the stand, looking bored. As Treaza and Paizley made their way over, he lifted his head and immediately stood. Finally, another kid to talk to while he was stuck helping out his mom. But Paizley brushed right past him and dumped everything she had brought onto the table, then she sat down and got to work.

When Zane came closer and leaned on the table, Paizley instinctively snatched her things away from him, even though he hadn't so much as lifted a finger. He was taken aback for a moment, but he forced himself to relax. She wasn't trying to be rude. She was just scared.

"It's alright, I won't touch them," he said, straightening up again while she kept her head down, "You mind if I watch?"

Her head jerked up. Zed had been the only other child to show any interest in her projects. She wasn't sure how to respond at first but after a second or two, she looked down again and shook her head, "I don't mind."

For as long as Treaza and Zia were talking, Zane watched Paizley work in almost complete silence, aside from the occasional curious question, which she answered in careful detail. It wasn't that Zane was especially interested, but he knew Paizley struggled to make friends her own age, and that it was only harder now that she wasn't going to school with them. Plus, he just wanted some company. And a reason not to work.

It became a fairly regular thing for Zane to watch Paizley fixing or building or whatever else she was doing. He wasn't Zed, he wasn't her might-as-well-be-a-cousin who she'd been known and watched over since birth, and she stood by the fact that no-one would ever replace her Zeddy, but Zane was the only zombie who was the same age as her who tried to make her feel comfortable. Not even Azalea understood how to interact with her. Zane, however, already had a knack for figuring people out and Paizley was, if nothing else, interesting. So he was happy to sit or stand beside her and let her do her own thing while he observed.

Treaza was glad her daughter had made a friend her own age, especially being so isolated. In fact, she had grown more and more curious about how differently Paizley seemed to act compared to the other kids. Her passion for technology and history was certainly out of the ordinary for an eight-year-old, and she could talk someone's ear off and never notice if they didn't care. She didn't ever seem to notice what other people, thought, in fact. It was like she lived her life in her own little world. And although she was so talkative most of the time, there were times when her words trickled to a stop – like in the days following the raid.

Zombies naturally had dulled senses and instinctively craved any kind of sensory input, which was why they built light gardens, why they all loved to dance so much, and why they created such a variety of foods, among other things, but Paizley's eyes were unusually undersensitive to lights and colours, and what's more was how much _more_ sensitive she was to physical touch. She never liked to be hugged unless she initiated it and she'd shudder and recoil if someone just brushed past her a little too close. She could love the taste of something one day and despise it the next.

She was always fidgeting with her toys and gadgets, and not just when she was actually building or fixing them. She didn't really make eye contact. She would flap her hands and tap her fingers on things and shake her hair and hum. There wasn't exactly anything _wrong_ with her, she was just... so different from the other kids.

The Reiligs had luckily managed to hold onto a few old books they had salvaged from the recycling plant – maybe the patrol didn't think to check through their bookshelf. Maybe they just didn't care about them being taken. But either way, they had a select few books on mental health, disorders and disabilities. They had already guessed she had developed PTSD after what she had been through a couple of years ago, and their research seemed to confirm that, but what they also discovered was that all of those little eccentricities, most of which had been around for pretty much her whole life, were traits of autism. She wouldn't be able to get either of these conditions diagnosed; the patrol had very little regard for zombies' mental health. As long as they weren't a danger to the humans of Seabrook, they didn't care, and they had no drive to look into how a zombie's brain actually worked other than to keep them under control. But at least they had some idea of why Paizley was the way she was. Things made more sense.

– NOTHING'S GONE FOREVER –

Only a few months after this discovery, when Paizley was ten and Zed was almost seven, Zana had also learned something: she was pregnant again. Zed was already bragging about what an amazing big brother he would be, while Paizley thought back to when she had heard the news about Zed, and how excited she had been to be a big sister to him. Besides her parents, Zed had been the most important person in the world to Paizley. Would she be able to bond with this new baby like that, too? Would she get to help Zed learn how to care for them, like when she had learned to care for him?

... Would she have to share her Zeddy now...?

This was so different to before. She wasn't the only one anymore. And anyway, Zed had Eliza and Bonzo, as well. Were they going to get to know the baby as well as she would?

Would Paizley herself even really get to know the baby? She knew there was something not quite right these days, like she was missing something. Gears were turning in her head.

There was more to all of this, everything that had happened in these past few years. It hadn't always been this way. She was home-schooled not just because of there being so many people, but because there could be _humans_ there. The patrol could be there, at any time. And maybe it wasn't so normal that she stood guard every night at curfew. No other zombies did it. She never saw them. And something told her she was wrong – she hadn't always done it, either. Bright lights had always distracted her, but lately she had noticed an underlying sense of fear bubble up at the sight.

But she didn't know what had started all of this. Something had changed, and no-one was telling her what. Would it have any effect on her relationship with Zed's sibling? It already had an effect on her relationship with Zed...

The other zombie kids thought she was weird. Did Zed? Would the baby grow up thinking she was weird?

She didn't want to think about that.

– NOTHING'S GONE FOREVER –

The first time Paizley saw Zoey stirred the memory of meeting Zed seven years ago, and she felt the exact same love for her immediately. She just wanted to look at her, watch her, but Zed was demanding his little sister's attention again already. Zana hushed him, reminding him not to crowd Zoey or make too much noise and he obeyed, but he still seemed to be ignoring Paizley, who was standing off to one side. Zana, however, did notice her and beckoned her over. She managed to get close enough to gently touch Zoey's face and let her grip her little finger, but then Zed was back. He was scolded again, but Paizley stepped back. It didn't look like she was going to get much of a chance.

Zed always seemed preoccupied with Zoey now. Not that Paizley didn't love her, too, but she didn't get to spend as much time with her, and she almost felt like she and Zed were drifting apart. Wasn't this supposed to be a good thing? Another 'cousin'? This was nothing like when she just had Zeddy, and she had him all to herself. She missed him. And she wanted to spend some time with Zoey as well but she couldn't bring herself to say so.

Then one day, when Zed was playing with his baby sister, Paizley pulled an old wagon piled high with her latest finds, some other building materials and some tools over to the cauli-brains stand where Zane was once again helping Zia. When he saw her coming, he walked over, curiously eyeing the wagon.

"What's that?"

"More treasure," Paizley told him, leaving the wagon by the table and sitting down.

"I meant, what's with the wagon?"

Paizley shrugged as she took an armful of items off the pile and dropped them on the surface in front of her, not even looking back at Zane, "It's easier than carrying them everywhere."

Zane accepted this with a nod and sat down next to her to watch.

After some time, Zed appeared, his head cocked as he looked from Paizley to Zane and back again.

"... What are you doing?"

Paizley's eyes stayed fixed on the pieces she was fitting together, "Working."

"Not _you_. Zane."

Zane's head snapped up, though he didn't look angry or anything. Just confused, "I'm just watching."

"_I_ normally watch. You normally show _me_ everything first."

"You were busy," Paizley pointed out, "You can watch now."

Zed gave Zane an odd look, "... No, thanks..."

He turned and left.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

Well, here we are. It's almost over. This is the last proper chapter of Nothing's Gone Forever (Only Out Of Place)...! There will be an epilogue next week and then my next ZOMBIES multichap will start by the end of the month

I have a title for the new multichap, which is once again focused on Alonzo and Zephyr of the BG zombies, but that title is too spoilery so it's nicknamed the future fic. Look for that in the fic summary so you recognise it~ And if you still haven't read Limelight, you will need to for this fic! It's sort of a sequel, so at least make sure to read all the chapters about Alonzo, Zephyr, Zach and Roz!

**Chapter 4 theme songs:** A Conversation from Mary Poppins Returns, How Can A Moment Last Forever? (Montmartre) from Beauty and the Beast (2017) and The Place Where The Lost Things Go from Mary Poppins Returns

* * *

Chapter 4

"_... Zed? Are you OK...?"_

_~ I'll carry on the way you told me, I say that like I have a choice, and though you are not here to hold me, in the echoes I can hear your voice ~_

Zed couldn't understand why Paizley was suddenly spending so much time with Zane. She'd never liked Zane all that much before. She'd never liked _any_ of the other kids before. And they didn't like her, either. She was supposed to be _his_ cousin, wasn't she?

Paizley couldn't understand why Zed was acting so distant. When he wasn't with his family, he was spending all his time with Eliza and Bonzo, and although she was starting to think of Bonzo as a friend, he always seemed a little hesitant to talk to her when Zed was around, and Eliza was surprisingly intimidating for a nine-year-old. She probably got that from Zinnia – Azalea was the same.

Both of them just wished they could go back to the way things used to be. But what could possibly change this?

– NOTHING'S GONE FOREVER –

No-one could have seen it coming, and yet it was no surprise how it started. It was common for the humans to make these kinds of attacks on the zombies for one reason or another. They didn't care, they just wanted to see them suffer. Humans (teenagers, mostly) were always vandalising their property or harassing them from the other side of the fences or climbing over the barrier at night to cause trouble. Still, there hadn't been anything like this in so long. Not even the raid and bonfire quite measured up to this.

This wasn't a 'demonstration' by the zombie patrol. This was cruel, reckless humans of Seabrook looking to do some damage.

At first, it was just voices coming from behind the barrier. Zia glanced briefly over her shoulder as she served her customers but did nothing else. Hearing humans spouting slurs and insults from the other side wasn't too much out of the ordinary. But then they were throwing things – a few rocks came crashing down from over the wall, accompanied by the shouts and jeers. Zane turned to his mother, suddenly scared and she ushered him behind the stand with her. The other zombies looked at each other then slowly began to move away. All too soon, the projectiles grew more and more concerning. Bricks, glass bottles, even a couple of firecrackers, which left Zia, Zane and their customers, who had abandoned the stand and tables to run a short distance away, fearful for what else they might do, and it escalated far quicker than any of them expected. It got worse.

It got so much worse.

Everyone scattered, screams ringing out, as a Molotov cocktail crashed to the ground right next to the stand, both the stand itself and a chair beside it catching fire, which quickly spread. Then a second struck the house right next to the barrier, the porch and the family's display of decorations outside now up in smoke. One of the house's residents happened to be with those at the cauli-brains stand and as he ran to help his family get out, other zombies on the street were fleeing the scene. Not too far away, the Reiligs had just left their house and were shocked by what they saw.

The sight of the flames made Paizley freeze, unable to look away. She didn't know when she had started to hyperventilate. Or when she started crying. Or when her dad scooped her up into his arms once he realised she wasn't going to move anywhere on her own. It was like the bonfire, but so, _so_ much worse. Just the same as she had back then, she struggled against him, hating feeling so constricted, and the heat from the fire in the distance only made it worse. The strong smell of burning almost made her want to throw up. Dezmond held onto her tightly anyway, he wasn't about to risk letting her relive that day five years ago, and kept running with Treaza at his side. Until she heard a familiar voice calling out, barely audible over the raging fire, and stopped in her tracks.

"_Zevon...!_"

It was Zana, and when Treaza saw her, she began to panic even more. She was so sure every zombie had managed to escape in time, but she hadn't noticed her best friend wasn't among them.

While the Reiligs hadn't been so dangerously close to the fire, the Necrodopolous house was right in his path and it was already coming closer. Zevon had pushed Zed out the door ahead of him, making sure he was safe before trying to get away himself, while Zana had picked up Zoey and followed behind them. But as she handed Zoey over to Zevon, a gust of wind fanned the flames, sending embers spirally threw the air, quickly cutting Zana off from her family as she cried out to her husband from the porch. Treaza's eyes widened as Zed turned around to see that his mother was trapped. Zevon, clutching a crying Zoey to his chest, was frantically searching for an opening Zana could get through to no avail. Forgetting how unsafe it was, Zed ran back towards them.

"No, Zeddy...!" Zana shrieked when she saw him and he came to a halt, staring back at her in pure fear. Her voice was hoarse from breathing in the smoke and she coughed as she tried to speak, "Don't, you... you'll get hurt...!"

Treaza almost ran to her but Dezmond pulled her back, holding onto her in an attempt to comfort her, but nothing was going to comfort her watching this happen.

Then a low, steady beeping sound started up and Zana looked down at her wrist. A warning flashed on the screen of her Z-band, then glitched and her head snapped up to look at Zevon. They both felt their hearts beat in their chests. The beeping soon turned more erratic and the glitches increased. Zana's wrist twitched, then her arm. The circuits were melting.

Zevon stepped back, passing Zoey to Zed and urgently telling him to move away, to a safer distance. The same thing could happen to their bands, too, after all. But Zevon himself wasn't going anywhere.

"Zevon..." Zana gasped, "Zevon, you ca-can't leave them...!"

"But I-"

"If the fire doesn't do it, my Z-band will," she choked on the smoke, "I love you. Zeddy...!" she looked past Zevon to their son, who bit back a sob and held his baby sister closer, "Gar-garziga, Zeddyka, Zoeka, zet."

Finally accepting the facts, Zevon hurried to get his children away so they wouldn't see their mother drop to her knees.

Paizley saw it, though. Zana, in a semi-feral state and completely unable to keep herself upright, collapsed. And the fire consumed her.

– NOTHING'S GONE FOREVER –

The funeral was over and both the Reilig and Scythes families were now at the Necrodopolous' house and the adults were talking among themselves. Paizley hadn't said a word to Zed since the fire, not sure what she possibly could say and what's more was her nightmares had gotten worse. The flames would surround her, their sound just barely covering the screams and cries and beeping of a Z-band that she could hear underneath.

Zed stuck with Eliza, and Azalea was too preoccupied with watching over her little sister to try and talk to Paizley. Even if she did, though, Paizley probably wouldn't respond. What were they supposed to even say to each other? What was she supposed to say to _Zed_? Eliza's family soon left and a little while later, Treaza and Dezmond also said their goodbyes. But as they were leaving , Paizley paused. Her parents gave her a questioning look and after a moment's thought, she said a quiet "Just a minute," and went back inside.

Zed had taken Zoey upstairs, giving his dad a minute to himself.

"Uncle Zev?"

Zevon looked up at the sound of her voice and hurried to wipe the tears from his eyes, "Paizley...!" he stood up and came towards her, "Sorry, I was just, uh..."

"Are you alright?"

The look on her face rendered him silent. She looked almost lost, but at the same time hopeful. She stood with one hand on the doorframe, the other hidden behind it, and her face pressed against her hand, scared but strong. It took a moment for Zevon to speak.

"I will be, zreeka, I will be..." he smiled, though it was a little forced, "It's hard. But we're all gonna be alright."

She dropped her gaze to the floor, chewing the inside of her cheek, then slowly looked up at him again, "... What about Zed and Zoey?"

"Zoey won't understand, she's too young. But Zed..." Zevon sighed and shook his head, "It's going to take a while. He'll need to adjust and I don't know how well he can handle that," he laughed humourlessly, "Then again, I don't know how well I can handle it, either. And I wish I could be here to help him but now I have to work twice as hard to take care of them both..." he seemed to drift off, like he was forgetting she was there for a minute, and she came a few steps closer. He stirred as she stopped in front of him and smiled warmly at her, though there was still a hint of sadness around the edges, "But you know, Paizley, your mom and dad have already done so much to help. And you have, too."

She was surprised, to say the least. She didn't know how to respond at first and shrugged, "... I haven't done anything, though."

"You've always treated Zed like he was your own brother, and that has had a real impact on him. Just being there for him like that could mean the world to him right now."

If she was completely honest, Paizley wasn't so sure that was true. She may have grown up close to Zed, but she still felt like there was something wrong between them. He had his life, and his friends, and his hobbies, and she had hers. Separate. Distant. Totally independent of each other. Sure, that didn't stop them from getting along, but it was like their differences were obscuring the bond they used to share. It didn't feel like anything Paizley could do would be any better than what his friends could do. If she did help Zevon to look after him and Zoey, that was more helping Zevon.

But helping Zevon was just as important. So she offered to come over when he needed a hand with things, pretty much becoming Zoey's babysitter. She would say she was Zed's babysitter, too, but aside from the fact that he wouldn't want to admit to needing a babysitter, he also didn't hang around her much while she was there anymore. Until one night a couple of months after Zana's death.

Paizley carefully lay Zoey down and sat beside her, one hand stroking her hair. Zoey looked back at her with tired eyes and Paizley smiled, a little sadly. She remembered watching Zanajaka do this with Zed. As she sat there gazing down at his sister, looking so like him when he was this age, a memory came to mind of the old Zombie-tongue lullaby she always heard, whether it was being sung to Zed, or to herself.

"_Zazig zreek, zazig gral, zazig zrugra, drozig grodge garzrea. Ag zrayn ru zegra, drahm, zet. Greh grag agz zegrere."_

'_So sweet, so small, so beautiful, all the good in the world. I'll keep you safe and warm, so we can stay together._'

Zoey was already drifting off to sleep when Paizley heard the door creak open the tiniest bit and she trailed off. Turning her head, she saw Zed shyly peeking inside. For a moment, neither of them said a word.

Then...

"... Mom used to sing that..."

"Yeah."

It was hard to tell what he was thinking, or what he wanted. Was he upset, hearing someone else sing that song...?

"... Can you sing it for me, too?" he asked her in a small voice, his eyes on the floor at first, then moving up to where Zoey slept. Paizley smiled, relieved, and gently patted the space at the foot of the bed.

"Sure. Come here."

Zed obliged, returning the smile as he sat down, his feet under him.

"_Zazig zreek, zazig gral, zazig zrugra..._"

Slowly, Zed lay down on his side, looking away from both of the girls.

"_Drozig grodge garzrea..._"

He shuffled closer to Paizley until his head was in her lap.

"_Ag zrayn ru zegra, drahm, zet..._"

With a soft smile, she ran her fingers through his hair and his eyes gradually fell shut.

"_Greh grag agz zegrere..._"

A few seconds after the song ended, Zed opened his eyes again, but didn't move, and Paizley noticed.

"Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," he mumbled, not lifting his head.

"... You don't have to be, Zeddy..."

And that was all it took for him to break. In an instant, tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was trying to hide his face against Paizley's side. She tensed up but reminded herself that it was only Zed, and he needed to be comforted. He knew she wasn't comfortable with being touched; he would only do this if he really, desperately needed someone to hold him. She wrapped her arms around him and lifted him upright so she could hug him properly. Eventually, he spoke, between sobs.

"I'm sorry for being a bad friend..."

"... You think you were being a bad friend?" she frowned and he nodded, "I thought it was me."

"I just..." Zed sniffed, "I didn't know what to say to you anymore. And you had Zane. You didn't need me."

"Zeddy..." Paizley smiled softly, "We're not always gonna _need_ each other. That doesn't mean I'll _never_ need you. And you and Zoey are both gonna need me sometimes, too."

"... Mom always called me Zeddy..."

She went quiet for a second, "... If you don't want me to ca-"

"No," Zed said, "It's OK."


	6. Epilogue

**Disclaimer **\- I don't own ZOMBIES or any of the characters involved. Copyright to Walt Disney Studios. Names of BG zombies are mine, characters themselves aren't.

And the story of the Necrodopolous/Reilig family history comes to a close...!

The future fic (title still to be revealed) will be coming by the end of the month so keep your eyes out for that! There'll be a couple of Limelight one-shots coming soon that are gonna be marginally relevant to it, too. And also maybe keep an eye on krut09's YouTube channel (Kreatable23) over the next week or two ;)

**Epilogue theme song:** For Good from Wicked the Musical

* * *

Epilogue

"Wow," Addison breathed. By now, the five of them – Addison, Zed, Eliza, Bree and Bonzo – were approaching the gate back into Zombie Town. Zed had been telling his story in intervals since lunch that day, and even though Eliza and Bonzo had seen it all in person, they had been just as enthralled as Addison and Bree, "You've been through a lot together, huh?"

"Pretty much everything, yeah," Zed nodded, "Paizley's been there for literally my whole life. I kinda wish she could be over on this side, too, but..."

Addison nodded in understanding, "Too many humans?"

"Exactly."

"And especially the zombie patrol," Eliza interjected, "She was at the homecoming game but then she was the first to run once things turned south."

"But she was still waiting for me to come back from containment afterwards. She was worried sick."

"So was Lea," Eliza said, her head down as she remembered that day.

"Izaka, zet," _And Iza_, Bonzo was staring off into space.

Addison tilted her head, thinking, "I guess Bucky would be the same for me..."

Bree, who was walking beside her with Bonzo close behind, his arm draped over her shoulder, pouted, "I wish I had a cool older relative." The others laughed as Bonzo wrapped his other arm around her and hugged her, making her giggle.

They were all quiet for a few seconds, then Zed smiled. He looked at Addison, briefly glancing at Bonzo as well, "You guys have your older cousins," he turned to Eliza, "You've got your older sister..."

"I've got no-one."

"Bree's got no-one," he joked, then shrugged, "But I think I'm pretty lucky to have a little of both."

They were through the gate now and walking down a Zombie Town street when they all heard the sound of wheels rolling along the sidewalk.

"Agru driza, agru zo..." _They hear, they come..._ Eliza muttered with a smirk.

Addison frowned, "What?"

"It's like the Zombie version of 'speak of the devil'," Zed explained as the very zombie they had been talking about all afternoon rounded the corner with her wagon. At first, she only noticed Zed, Bonzo and Eliza.

"Hey, guys!" she beamed.

As she came closer and saw that Addison and Bree were with him, she faltered briefly but Zed gave her a reassuring smile, "Hi, Paiz!" he turned to Addison and pulled her forward, despite the looks of concern on both her and Paizley's faces, "I don't think you've officially met my girlfriend yet, have you?"

At that, Paizley seemed to relax. For a second, she just looked at Addison, then her smile returned.

"Look at you, going out and getting yourself a girlfriend!" she poked his chest, "Little Zeddy's growing up."

_~ Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But because I knew you, I have been changed for good ~_

"_Are you coming to the humans' school with us, Paiz...?"_

"_Nah. Mom wants me to finish school here."_

"_Yeah, that makes sense... Would you want to, though? I mean, we finally get to see what it's like over there!"_

"_I'm good staying on this side."_

"_You are gonna come to all my football games, though, right?"_

"_Sure you're gonna make the team?"_

"_Are you kidding? I'm gonna be the star of the whole school. Everybody's gonna know my name. The pride and joy of all Seabrook!"_

"_Is that what they're gonna call you? 'Cause you're always gonna be little Zeddy to me. If you'd just... _shrink_...!"_

"_Only to you, janook."_


End file.
